Hey to all my readers, (if anyone ever actually reads this) I am Tobias, or just Toby. This is my first ever attempt at publishing anything I've written. I hope you enjoy and please review so I know how to improve my writing and don't be afraid to PM me if you have any questions. And yes, Tobias is a pseudonym.

Let's go over the basics of this little narrative here. Our story does take place in the BNHA universe, but across the ocean in the USA, and the US's version of UA, a high school know as Defender High. Hope you enjoy

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the rights to the original manga or anime. I only own the characters and arcs written in the story.

"Alright class settle down, settle down." Says Mr. Sago, our first period teacher, a tall man with a simple goatee and straight black hair.

It was close to the end of school for my eighth grade year, and today was the day that we began the testing process for who would go to the best high school in the country, Defender High in Colorado. I was so excited that I was almost through the roof, literally. I was laying down on the ceiling of the classroom, pushing up the tiles.

"Rei, can you please get down." Admonishes Mr. Sago. I know you're excited but please control yourself.

"Sorry sir." I half say half scream as I fall down from the ceiling and onto the desk.

"Today is the first day of admissions testing for Defender High." Begins Mr. Sago. "Your quirk isn't enough to get you into the school, you must also pass tests for basic mathematics, english and science skills and then a more advanced test for those of you who have selected courses that are specialized. Anyone who is bilingual most also pass a grammar test and an oral test that will be given to you in that language.

"After the written tests a physical test will be given to determine your physical fitness. When, and if, you pass the test, a letter will arrive at your address with the time and date of your physical test for your quirk. If you make it past the quirk test, a second letter will be sent to your dorm room, and what you'll need to pack. You will be testing almost all day today and most of the day tomorrow. You're tests start second period and you will stay in here. Take the rest of the period to ready yourself." With that he walks over to his desk and begins sorting the test papers from a large tub.

"You ready to ace this test." I hear from a voice behind me.

I turn around in my seat to face my good friend James. "Off course." I reply to the solidly built guy. James had a quirk that allowed him to change his skin into anything he touched. "But I doubt that I'm going to do good on it. If the physical test is anything like my friends in Japan said it was I won't do well, mostly physical quirks passed onto high ranking classes. You'll ace the physical test, you're quirk is perfect for it."

"Hey, you'll make it through, you're smart enough." He says flashing his pointy toothed smile.

"I hope I am." I say. Turning back around. This is the test that will determine my future. I begin thinking on how I even got here. When I was three small horns began to grow out of my head in between my temple and ear on the top of my head. My quirk developed when I was five, a late bloomer. I was adopted so I had no idea what my quirk would be. Before I knew it I was running along the ceiling much to my parents dismay. Then I found out my reversal power. One day my mom was working on her speed at the track, not like she needed to or anything, her quirk, Blink Speed, already had her running a mile in a little over a minute. I wanted to go home but she wouldn't have it. I got mad and when she tried to run instead of going fast she went a slower than a turtle, almost falling on her face. She then walked to the opposite side of the track and was able to run, but as soon as she passed near me she slowed instantly.

When I was eight our house caught on fire because of a rampaging villain running away from the local heroes. I ran back inside the house that was filled with carbon dioxide gas and kept breathing just fine, then when I came back outside I began to choke on the oxygen before I switched back. We went to the registration office and listed my quirk as original and was dubbed as Reversal.

Once people at my elementary school found out they started teasing me by saying my quirk and horns were perfect for a villain. Many kids were scared because my quirk and horns and usually stayed away. But one day a crazy kid with pointy teeth came up to me and said. "I think your quirk is awesome, you'd make a great hero. My names James." He said cheerfully with an outstretched hand. That day I decided that I would become a hero, not only to save others, but to also show those who doubted in me that I could become a hero, and more importantly, to show those who believed in me that I could do it.

I had just finished sharpening my pencil when Mr. Sago's voice cut through the nostalgic memories. "Take your seats, the testing begins now." He passed out the first booklet, basic english comprehension. "You will have two and a half hours to complete one hundred and seventy five questions. Good luck. Your time begins now."

At now the sound of textbooks opening and pages flipping filled the classroom for an instant as people dove into their tests. Then all was silent except for the sound of pencils scratching, filling answer bubbles and circling letters. The test was different than most standardized tests and was considered one of the hardest tests in North America and even the world. I knew what to expect, each question had eight possible choices and one correct answer and got progressively harder with each question. These next two days, I would come to learn, started me on a track that changed my life forever.

The english and science test flew by in a blur, same time allotment and same question numbers. They were both really easy for me. Then after lunch we took the math test, which was three hours and two hundred questions with basic algebra, geometry and arithmetic to more advanced questions on algebra two and basic calculus. I got about question one sixty before some of them became really hard to answer. By the end of the day I was beyond tired.

I caught the bus back home as the pine trees of Washington State passed by in a blur. I didn't really regitar what was happening until I stepped off the bus and onto the walkway of my house. Said house was small. The stained and weathered wood of the outside and the dark blue painted door all familiar and welcoming. The cold winter made the grass brown and drab, and a slight mist was falling from the grey skies. I open the door to the simple two floor house and the smell of cooking meat and sauteed vegetables filled the air. Dad was cooking tonight, which meant something delicious was going to be in the table tonight.

"Mom, Dad, I'm home." I call as I slip off my shoes and step onto the hardwood floor of the living room, the TV was on the news station and they were talking about the recent villain disturbances across the northern US and most of southern Canada, they were continuing to spread toward the west coast.

"Hey son." My dad said from the kitchen. "How was testing today?"

"Really tiring. I don't think I did to well on the last few math questions though." I say walking up the stairs my room. The up stairs wasn't much. Carpet covered most of the floor and it only had two rooms. A guest bedroom and my room. My room was simple. A bed sat on the floor and a TV with a nintendo switch console was plugged in. Not too far away as my desk looking out with window with my desktop still on the League of Legends main screen from yesterday afternoon. A poster of my favorite hero, the flame bird hero, Phoenix hung on the wall just to the left of the desk. Above my bed was a padded ceiling that I could walk on and rest on if I so desired, and a hammock hung from two supporting hook on the same said ceiling above the bed.

To either side was a closet full of clothes, day clothes and more formal wear that hardly ever saw the light of day. My bathroom was nothing fancy, just the usual sink, toilet and shower.

I threw my bag down and picked up the book I was reading. I switched my gravity and before I knew it I was lying on the ceiling with my book in hand. As long as I kept at least five fingers on the book it would stay with me, if I let it go it would fall to the floor. I learned that simple lesson when my phone decided to fall onto the wooden bedframe and shatter the screen.

About fifteen minutes later the sound of the front door distracted me and a not so gracefully fell on my face from the ceiling with a loud thunk. Thankfully it was on the bed. In the blink of an eye my mom was in my room, sweaty from her probably close to fifty mile run.

"You okay?" She asks nervously

"I'm fine" I say.

"How was testing?"

"I did terrible." I say flopping backwards onto the bed. "On the last portion of the math test the question started getting hard and I finished the test at the last second, literally."

"You'll do better tomorrow." She encouraged, a huge smile on her face. She had always been there for me supporting me.

"I hope so." I say, sitting back up.

"I know so." She said ruffling my hair.

"Watch the horns." I bat away her hands. "Did you really have to do that?" I say straightening my black hair back to the side.

"Hey. Dinner's ready." calls my dad from downstairs

"Come on, let's go get some. I'll race you there."

"Okay then." I say switching on my quirk and reversing hers. I bolt out of the room and down the stairs with the sound of my mom screaming "Not fair!"

I turn off my quirk and she quickly bolts down the stairs and into a seat, but right after me.

"I won."

"You cheated."

"You would have too if I didn't reverse your quirk."

"Hey now simmer down." My dad chastised as he walked into the room. "Tonight's a stir fry and I don't want it to ruin with your bickering."

The night went on like any other, we ate and laughed. Talked about the days and what we did. Just like a normal family.

Before I knew it I was back at school, heading into a testing room, James wishing me luck, and sitting down in a different room with a different teacher for a test I knew was going to be harder.

"Today you will be taking the advanced science test." The old lady's shrill voice announced to the classroom, she was a quirkless old hag who despised the youth for their abilities. "You must answer two hundred questions in two and a half hours. Your time starts now."

I opened the booklet. The first question was about the basic structure of a cell. Easy enough. I kept answering questions like they were nothing, then I hit a wall. With forty minutes left on the timer, I was drawing a blank on question one hundred and seventy five over the properties of Ohm's law and how the amperage and wattage in a certain thickness in a wire affect the resistance and which property was demonstrated. After that the question kept just getting harder and harder and on the last question I was asked something I didn't even understand, quantum physics. I took a guess and slammed the booklet shut just as the old teacher called time.

I left that room feeling terrible. I knew I didn't pass, not with that kind of performance. The next two would be easier for sure. They were questions over Japanese grammar and structure. I was one of only two people in my testing room. I finished way early and was confident in my answers, while the other student was clearly struggling with the questions.

The next test was an oral test. I had to hold up a conversation for five minutes and answer general knowledge question that were asked in Japanese and I had to respond in Japanese. I passed that test easy too.

I walked away from those confident and then into the cafeteria and sat down next to James.

"So how do you think you did?" I ask, opening a bag of chips.

"The first few questions were easier than I thought but then they got harder suddenly. I don't think I answered some questions about the Fibonacci sequence or any of the calculus or trig questions well."

"Same goes for me." I say between bites. "I was asked some about quantum physics and had no clue what they answer was."

"At least the physical fitness portion will be easy."

"That we can both agree on." I say chomping down on a sandwich.

The physical fitness test was a mile run, minute of push ups, minute of situps, minute of pull ups, and a forty yard dash. You were allowed to use your quirk as long as it didn't impede other testers.

When I started with the mile run I finished with a solid time of six minutes and thirty three seconds. The sit ups and push ups were also a breeze getting sixty three situps and fifty nine push ups. The pull ups were a little more challenging with the weakened arms but I managed to get in seven solid ones. I had a decent time of four point eight three.

The next day classes went back to normal, and the waiting began. Each day I would check the mail for a letter with the familiar purple and black DH logo. Other kids began to receive their results each day at least ten more kids would say they got their results. Five weeks after the test I still haven't received a letter, and six kids from my school had passed, including James. I began to give up hope, then one day I walked onto the walkway. The grass was now green and growing, the sky was cloudy and the breeze swayed through the green trees. At least the world was happy today. I opened the mailbox and there it was, waiting, with my name on it in purple script. "For the eyes of Rei Koizumi." I opened it right then and there not caring who heard me scream in triumph.

The letter read: In this letter you will find the address for your regional quirk entrance assessment along with the date and time of the assessment. This letter also contains your score and national percentile for each category. Congratulations Mr. Koizumi, you have passed the first round of admission exams. Signed, school admissions director, Phoenix.

The flame bird hero Phoenix signed my admission paper, I will keep this forever even if I don't make it past the second round.

I then scream a really loud "YES! I passed! I passed!"

"You passed?" Asked my Mom was she poked her head out of the door.

"Yes." I say running to the door.

"Let's look at your scores."

I flip through the papers until I see the score sheet.

"I made an eighty one out of one hundred possible points, eleven points higher than the required seventy. I finished in the seventy seventh percentile in physical fitness, twelve percent above the cutoff. I'm a slightly above average student. The assessment location is at 42 QAC on June first at one pm. That's in a week."

"Now all we have to do is wait." my Dad said with a beaming smile on his face. "And celebrate."

Then the waiting began again as June first drew nearer and nearer. I couldn't help but feel anxious. I was about to begin a journey I never thought possible.

Then the day arrived. We drove out to the middle of nowhere to a large concrete wall with a large forty two on the side. We pulled up to a gate and showed the guard our ID and letter of admission. The car pulled into a car park along with at least one hundred other cars.

"I have to finish in the top twenty five out of two hundred people in order to pass the assessment. And then the top ten to be selected for the hero course." I say downtrodden as I get out of the car, wearing some gym shorts and a red t-shirt with a cross and snake design from one of my favorite anime. "With my quirk I won't make it."

"Don't say that." Says my mom was she gives me a blink speed slap to the head. "You're gonna do great." She says as we arrive at a crossroads. A sign pointing two directions one way for watchers, the other for testers.

"See you guys after the test." I turn and walk towards the end of the corridor. On the other side a crowd of people were gathered at a massive metal gate. I saw James and ran up to him.

"Hey James."

He turned around and smiled his sharktooth smile. "Hey. Good to see you here."

James wasn't the only one who saw me. I heard the familiar "hey villain" and "upside down boy" from the ten other who passed from our school, all old bullies. I really hoped they didn't pass this part of the test.

"Welcome candidates." Said a booming voice over a hidden speaker system. Then a small platform appears from the top of the large gate, and standing on it in full hero suit was Seattle's main hero, Stormbreaker, the lightning storm hero. "You have proved yourself to be competent enough to make it a Defender High, you are in the top two hundred students in the state.Inside the arena is a simulated city with four different robotic enemies that are worth points. The easier the enemy the lower the point value. But one enemy is worth zero points, I recommend you avoid that one. You will have thirty minutes to rack up as many points as possible. The top twenty five will be accepted into Defender High and join the five thousand students from across the country who will shape the world into a better place."

Then the doors begin to open, revealing the streets of a city. "Good luck candidates, your time begins now."

He crowd surge forward, me along with them. I have to find some enemies and fast, I can use my quirk against others to slow them down a little and even the playing field a little bit. I run through a a group of testers and touch about six of them and hear the screams of annoyance as their quirks backfire on them.

I turn a corner and I am rushed by a green armored robot, a two pointer. I jump up and land on the robot and find the maintenance panel at the base of its neck. I open it up to see wires and rip them out, shutting it off. There's two points. I repeat the process of reversing quirks and pulling wires and rack up at least ten points. After a while I ignore the larger bands of people wandering around the assessment area. I can't use my quirk too much cause I really don't want to go through the next hour or so with a really bad stomach ache.

I turn a corner and see a large crowd running in the opposite direction. Shouting things like "giant robot." "it's the zero pointer.", "nope, nope, nope." Then I see it, a towering green robot, ready to crush us all. I start to turn the other way, there's no way my quirk can do anything against that.

Then a scream pierces the air, a shout of terror, yet everyone ignored it. Someone was in trouble. I had to help, even if my quirk was useless.

I run, not away but towards. I wasn't alone, James was running along right behind me. "I'll take on the robot, you save whoever was screaming."

I flash back a thumbs up and begin scanning the debris. The machine had knocked the tops off of several building and a I saw one person trapped underneath a concrete chunk, their legs trapped. She was screaming in absolute pain.

I run over to her, "I'm here to help." Her legs were trapped under what must have been a close to five hundred pound piece of concrete. Her jet black hair that was splayed our behind her kept moving as she continued to cry out and writhe in pain. I begin to think on what I could do. I was already at the limits of my abilities. They only way I could lift this rock would to be to reverse my gravity while holding onto it. It was risky, in order to lift anything this heavy with me I would have to use a huge amount of energy to try and keep it slower than the actual speed of gravity. In the background the sound of crunching metal was obvious as James went ham on the zero pointer. I looked up and it's treads were drawing closer to our position, it was aiming to crush us, while it batted off James.

"Okay." I say into her ear. "I'm going to lift this while I hold onto you, you need to hold on really tightly, cause if you don't you will be a lot more pain. Do you understand?"

She nodded yes through gritted teeth.

This wasn't the ideal situation. Almost everyone else had moved on to the other smaller robots to rack up points, so I was going to have no support if this went south. "On the count of three I'm going to lift us. One." I say building up energy. "Two, and three!" I shout as the block begins to rise upward. I pull her up and hold her tightly against my body, seeing her legs were completely broken as they hung there limply. I then begin to lessen the energy I was pumping into the block, then we began to fall back down much faster than we had previously risen. We lagged slightly behind the block but I was still holding on. I pulled us onto the block and watched as the ground rushed up beneath us.

The zero pointer was right beneath us, we were going to hit it. We kept going faster and faster, then at the last second I began to slow us down, slightly reversing the block pouring all I had into slowing us down, then it got really cold.

I look over to the girl and a blue flame was burning on her hand, she was touching the concrete block and ice slowly began to form over us in a dome shape. Then the impact arrived. The block hit the zero pointer with a deafening screech of tearing metal and circuits. Everything was still, my breath could be seen in the air, I looked over to the girl and she was almost unconscious. I had a massive headache and was about to hurl.

Then someone started hitting the ice, cracking it, James' metal body was the first thing I saw before I picked up the girl and jumped off the block not caring how much my head hurt and ignoring that fact that I just fractured my ankle from jumping off three foot thick concrete at the wrong angle.

I kept running, running towards the big metal entrance gate, weaving around the dead husks of vanquished enemies. I heard a buzzer and someone over a speaker say that time was up. I kept running. I saw the entrance and medical staff waiting. When I reached the medics I placed the girl on a gurney and began to follow along with them. Then pain shot up my leg. I looked down and saw blood seeping from a hole in my leg where the ankle should be. Before I knew it I was lying on the ground, my vision was going black, I tried to keep my eyes open, but it was no use. The last thing I saw were the boots of a hero, standing right in front of me.

I wake up in a hospital bed, my leg was wrapped up and bandages covered my hands and shins. I turn to look out the window, the tree gently swaying in the wind. I was still at the assessment facility. My parents weren't in the room but I heard the footfalls of someone enter. I turn to face the person and was then dumbfounded.

"Ah. Your awake." Says a familiar voice. One I had heard on TV news reels dozens of times. Standing in front of me was the flame bird hero, Phoenix. The man I had looked up to since I was five.

"Phoenix." I say almost shaking with excitement and passing out again. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to tell you the results of the assessment." He turns around and turns on the TV embedded in the wall. A graphic with the names of all the participants listed in alphabetical order appeared.

"As you know only twenty four people pass this test per state and the only the top ten per state are allowed to take part in the hero course. These are the scores of the assessment."

The graphic moved around I saw my name move to the twenty eighth position. With ten points to my name.

The top score had over one hundred points. I scanned down the list and saw James' name at spot number eight. He had made it.

"These are the scores without the the extra points."

I look up from my downtrodden and saddened state.

"There were other points available. Called Hero Points. The assessment is judged by heroes from around the nation."

He pulled up a clip of me running towards the zero pointer, James close behind. Then a clip of the girl and I shooting up and away unceremoniously and very fast. Then crashing back down, an ice shell surrounding us, and me running back on a broken ankle to the front gate.

"The girl you saved is Ayden, she was already in the top ten at spot number five. She is alright and recovering. You and your friend rushed in to save her while everyone else ran away and continued to move on with the assessment.

"I know that your quirk isn't the strongest. I read your file before the assessment. Yet you rushed in anyways."

He switched the graphic again. My name moving up to the seventh spot, with seventy five points, and James moving to spot four.

"You were awarded sixty five hero points. Congratulations Rei, you are now a student at Defender High."

I couldn't believe it. I had made it. I was going to the high school of my dreams.

"In about two weeks you will get a letter with your dorm and a map of the campus."

Then the door opened again and my parents a ran in. My mom hugged me and started cheering as my dad met Phoenix.

"We just heard too. We are so proud of you. More so of your actions rather than getting into Defender."

"We are proud of you Rei." Says my dad beaming with pride. "You will become the next greatest hero. I believe that you will join the ranks of popular heroes like Phoenix behind me and maybe even All Might."

"Hey. I still have to graduate." I joke.

"I'll leave you all to celebrate and get ready to go home. I have to give the exciting news to Ayden." Says Phoenix, a wide smile on his face.

"I say we go get some dinner in Seattle, at your favorite Italian place, Bruno's" Says my mom.

"I agree with that statement." I say. I see crutches that weren't there a second ago. Right where Phoenix was standing, his logo of a flaming red bird engraved into the side. I swing myself over the bed and grab the crutches. "But first let's go home. I'll need a change of clothes."

I then make my way out of the hospital room. Beaming with pride and joy. I had made it. The first stepping stone on my long journey to be one of the best heroes of the modern age.